Thieves United

PARIS, FRANCE: 7:35 AM

Ever since Sly had seen the video of Dimitri being sprung from jail on Carmelita's computer, Carmelita herself had been in a very unhappy mood. For two days strait she'd done nothing but huff and sigh, angry at the fact that Merah Ringo managed to get him free without taking down any security. Sly found out from her later that when he returned to the office and she wasn't there, she had driven down to St. Reis' Prison by herself, hoping to find some sort of clue as to how Merah managed to get in there. So far, she'd found nothing, except for a guard who'd confessed he'd fallen asleep. As of yet, the Chief was still coming up with a punishment for him.

Modesta came to Sly and Carmelita later that morning, saying she was worried about J.R. Apparently, he was a nervous wreck; the news she had actually managed to give him (Remember, Modesta couldn't string two short words together whenever he was around) about Westwood coming to Paris a week early set him off the deep end. He didn't even find time to hit on Carmelita anymore. Not like the vixen was complaining at all.

"I hope he goes crazy," Sly said while in Carmelita's office, sounding really hopeful. "Then maybe they'll put him in a mental hospital, and we won't have to deal with him anymore."

"Sly!" Modesta said, sounding devastated as Carmelita actually started to laugh for the first time since Dimitri's escape. The cream-colored Persian cat flashed Carmelita a dirty look, and said, "That's mean!"

"Like I said before, Modesta," Sly said, lounging back in his chair, and putting his arms behind his head. "You can do so much better than Jamison Ralston."

"Like who?" Modesta demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. Sly shrugged.

"I dunno…" He said. "How about… uh…."

"Winthorp?" Carmelita suggested, a coy smile playing on her lips. Now it was Sly's turn to laugh hysterically, and Modesta blushed under her fur. Carmelita started to laugh with Sly when he had actually fallen backwards out of his chair.

"That's just gross," She said loudly over their laughter, pouting like a stubborn child. "Besides, I thought he liked you, Carmelita?"

That shut the vixen up right away. Sly stopped laughing abruptly, too. Carmelita looked at Modesta with a horrified face, and she said, "WHAT?"

Now it was Modesta's turn to start laughing.

( A/N: In case you don't know who Winthorp is, he's the badger who keeps using cheesy pick-up lines on Carmelita in the second comic book posted on Sly's page on the Sucker Punch Website.)

That same day, in the evening when Sly finally got home, he got a call from Bentley. Their plans for the heist were made, and all they need now was for Sly to meet them somewhere. The raccoon suggested picking him up in front of his apartment, as there were no other officers living in the same building, so they wouldn't be seen. After they made plans for a time, Sly hung up the phone, and dashed to his bedroom.

He dug under his bed for a while, rummaging around trying to find the red backpack and his cane, finding a shirt he had been looking for last week in the process. Finally finding the items he was looking for, Sly set the pack on the bed, and unzipped it. His old blue uniform was in there, looking like he had just worn it yesterday. He pulled it out carefully, along with his old gloves, hat, and boots. He laid it all out on his bed, and took a deep breath to calm himself. His heart was beating very fast, and he was already getting an adrenaline rush.

Was this a good idea…?

There it all was; my thieving outfit, the one I thought I'd never wear again. It was laying there on my bed, looking brand new. I didn't rush to put it on. I was afraid if I did rush, I would find all of this wasn't real, and I'd become depressed. Even though I was a little scared, I was also excited, and felt happier and more alive than I had in a long time.

I was going to pull off another heist!

After a while of just staring at my costume, worried it was going to get up and run away, I started to change. Everything still fit me just fine. The boots, the gloves, the shirt, the belt… it was like my outfit was as excited as I was to go out thieving, but that would've just been weird. Then I took up my cane. My father's cane. My grandfather's cane. The cane that had been in my family for generations.

I could almost feel my father smiling down on me as I used the hook of my cane to snag my hat, throw it up into the air, and let it land squarely on my head. Then I smiled to myself, and looked at the old family photo of my parents that I kept on my dresser. Yeah. Dad was proud of me. After strapping the now empty red pack onto my back, I went for my bedroom window, and opened it. Climbing out to sit on the windowsill, I used my cane to hook onto a pipe going down the side of the building.

Oh, yeah, ladies and gentleman. The Thief was back in action.

Sly Cooper In:

The Thief Returns

Jumping from the pipe a few feet before the ground, Sly landed on his feet with ease, flipping his cane in his hand. Just as he started to stand up strait, the team van came speeding up into the parking-lot of the apartment building, and Sly pulled open the passenger-side door, and hopped in next to Murray. The large hippo was at the steering wheel, as usual, wearing his mask and his gloves. "The Murray" grinned at Sly.

"Now that's the Sly I've missed so much!" Murray said happily. Sly grinned back, then looking behind him to the back on the van. Bentley was literally glowing with pride like the setting sun, and Penelope was so happy to see Sly in his costume, she was almost in tears. Sly laughed. It felt good to be back.

"Shake a leg, Murray," Sly said, settling back into his seat. "Let's get this show on the road."

The Louvre Museum. The holder of the Mona Lisa, and other fine, priceless treasures. The security getting into the museum was tight, and the security around each of the objects was tighter. Bentley found that they'd probably only be able to steal one jewel at a time each night in a different pattern, so no one would be able to figure out when they made their move. Sly didn't care when they went out; his thieving side was back for the night, and it was itching to go into that museum.

To Sly's utter joy, Bentley actually did a slideshow. The raccoon had forgotten how much he missed Bentley's plans and organized operations. This operation in question was entitled 'Earth Stone Hijack'. Okay, so Sly didn't miss Bentley's corny operation names. He was just glad to be back on the team.

With his old Binocucom in his back-pack, Sly set off to find a way inside the Louvre. He saw there was a ventilation system close to the roof. It would be a challenge getting up there, but Sly was willing to do anything right now. He found a pipe that made its way up a good portion of the building, but once he got to the end of the pipe, he had to jump, and hook his cane onto a hole between two of the bricks. He pulled back on the cane with strength and force, and let himself spring up high enough so he could latch his cane onto another hole in the wall. He kept doing this, being careful not to fall, until he managed to hook onto the vent covering. Using his cane like a rope, Sly pulled the cover off quickly, using his free hand to grab hold of the kind of 'ledge' he had made when the cover had been pulled away.

Pulling himself up so he could crawl through the vent, Sly exhaled deeply. He was amazed he was still able to do that; almost a whole year without any practice with his cane. Lady Luck was on his side tonight.

Busting out another vent cover, Sly let it clatter to the floor below, and he jumped from the vents himself, landing lightly on his feet like a cat. The plan was for him to get the others into the museum without setting of the security.

The raccoon thief found an emergency exit door that could only be opened from the inside; therefore, no alarm went off. Sly called Bentley in on his Binocucom, leading him and the others around to the back of the building. He waved to them when he saw them coming near the door. Once they were all inside, the door was pulled shut, and they all stayed quiet for a minute to let their eyes adjust to the newly-fallen darkness.

"Okay," Bentley whispered. "Penelope and I will go and find the security power-box, and shut it all down. This will keep all security offline for about…. Half an hour, we'll say. In that time, Sly and Murray will go find the Earth Stone, steal it, and then we'll all pile out of here before we're caught."

"Half an hour isn't very long," Murray mused.

"No worries, Murray," Sly said quietly. "We'll find it. Remember, thieves have a good sense of direction."

"But you haven't been a thief for a long time," Murray reminded him. Sly chuckled.

"It's all coming back pretty quick, pal," The raccoon said. "I think we'll be okay."

"Good luck, you two." Penelope said, and the two mini-teams went their separate ways.

Sly and Murray had a bit of a tough time trying to find their way through the Louvre. The security was tighter around certain areas, like the Mona Lisa, so it slowed the adventure down quite a bit. Sly didn't mind, though; he'd dodge his way through all the laser beams and movement censers, and help Murray find an alternative route.

Finally, the pair found an exhibit for ancient Europe. Sly hopped over the censers after telling Murray to stand watch, and found what he assumed to be the Earth Stone of Europe, but he couldn't be sure; he's ask Bentley just in case. He felt his Binocucom vibrate in his back-pack, and the raccoon took it out, holding it up to his eyes.

"Go for it, Bentley," Sly whispered.

"I just shut down the security system," Bentley said, though he sounded a little panicky. "I was wrong about my half an hour guess; more like fifteen minutes!"

"That's okay, pal, calm down," Sly said. "I found the European exhibit. Does the Earth stone of Europe happen to look like a round-cut piece of onyx?"

"The black and shiny stuff? Yeah, that'd be it." Bentley said. Sly grinned.

"Good. You and Penelope wait by the emergency exit door. Murray and I will be there in ten minutes."

"That's cutting our time limit pretty close, Sly," The turtle warned.

"You're cutting it close with your whining," Sly answered. "Relax, Bentley. I'm fine. Murray's standing watch and I'm right here next to the stone. I'll see you soon, alright?"

"Okay. Be careful." Bentley said, and Sly stuffed the Binocucom back into his pack.

The stone was resting on a red cushion raised up on a pedestal. A cube of glass surrounded the stone in its resting place, and there was no way to get it unless the protective glass case was lifted.

"Hey, Murray," Sly called in a hushed tone. "Come here for a second."

Murray jogged over to Sly's side. "What's up?"

"Can you lift the glass cube real quick?" The thief asked. "Try not to drop it, and don't touch the glass with your fingers; we don't want to leave fingerprints behind, or anything."

"Sure thing," Murray said, and making sure his gloves were on properly, he carefully lifted the glass cube. Sly quickly snatched the stone, and stored it safely in his bag.

"Thanks, big guy," Sly said. "Set it down now, carefully. Then we'll meet Bentley and Penelope back at the exit."

Once the glass cube was back in place, and Sly and Murray quickly ran through the museum, hoping the security system wouldn't come back on before they got to the exit. Sly did a perfect rail-slide down the same stair railing he had used when he was trying to catch Dimitri, and Murray ran as fast as he could to keep up with him. The exit was right there, so close…

"The security's back online!" Penelope said. Luckily, Sly and Murray hadn't tripped anything.

"Let's get out of here quick before any realizes we were here," Bentley said, and pushing open the door, they were greeted with a loud ringing sound. The turtle almost had a asthma attack.

"Move it!" Sly ordered, and she shoved the others outside quickly. They all ran to the van, and Sly urged Murray over and over to hurry up and get the van started once they were all piled inside. Murray started the engine, backed out the parking space he had used, and drove away at amazing speed. They had left the scene of the crime before any cops could show up, and for this, Sly breathed a sigh of relief. Then, reaching into his bag, he pulled out the Earth Stone of Europe, an onyx rock that was cut into an oval shape and polished to perfection.

"Two stones down," Sly said, handing the stone to Bentley with a grin. "Three more to go."

Sly was exhausted the next morning when Carmelita came to pick him up for work. He bought three cups of coffee for himself to at least attempt to keep himself awake, but he was so tired from the night before, he was afraid his exhaustion would give him away. Carmelita had heard about the theft the night before, and she was a little displeased, yet at the same time, oddly happy.

"J.R.'s been put on the case," Carmelita was saying to Sly as they drove to Interpol Headquarters. "He's going insane. The new that that Westwood guy was coming a week earlier than planned was enough to stress him out, but now that he actually had a case to worry about?" She laughed in amusement, and shook her head slightly.

Sly smiled tiredly, keeping his head leaned back on the seat. "Who is this Westwood guy, anyway? I know we saw him at that club a few nights ago, but… who is he?"

"Apparently he's supposed to be some highly-regarded cop from America," The vixen explained, pulling into their usual parking spot at Interpol. "New York, more specifically. He's an Inspector, I think, and he's on some case that's brought him here."

"Hmm…" Sly said, suddenly more awake. "I wonder what his case is…"

Merah Ringo marched her way up to the Cooper Gang hideout later that morning, a newspaper in her hand. She pounded on the door a little harder than she intended, and it was Penelope who answered it. Her eyes narrowed when she was Merah standing there.

"What do you want?" Penelope asked.

"I need to talk to Bentley," Merah said, and Penelope just narrowed her eyes anymore.

"Look, he's not interested, okay?" She snapped loudly. "We don't need your help anymore!"

"Clearly you do!" Merah replied just as loudly as Penelope, and shoved the paper into her face. Penelope pulled it away from her so she could read it; on the front cover was a photo of a red cushion, sitting on a pedestal, and the headline read, 'PRECIOUS ONYX STONE FROM EUROPE STOLEN FROM LOUVRE LAST NIGHT!'

"How the heck do these newspaper guys get their information so fast?" Penelope asked absently. Merah pushed her way passed Penelope into the house.

"Hey! You can't just walk in uninvited!" Penelope yelled after her.

"Turtle!" Merah yelled as she stormed into Bentley's lab. He looked up from his computer curiously, and then looked at her suspiciously.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I tried to keep her out," Penelope said, glaring at Merah's back.

"Are you… crazy!" Merah shouted. "Stealing the five Elements? Do you have any idea how priceless those are!"

"We have to collect them in order to keep that thief from stealing the blue diamond," Bentley said calmly.

"So steal the diamond itself," Merah said. "Lock it up in your… spiffy vault thingy. Why go for the other five when it's only the diamond that causes the damage?"

"There's more to stealing those stones than just keeping this new thief from collecting them all," Bentley said, narrowing his eyes. "Last night, when we stole the Earth Stone, Sly went back to his regular, normal self. You could see it in his eyes; he was the thief again, like he always used to be. If we can get him to steal all of those stones, we're hoping he'll come back to the gang. For good."

Merah sighed. "Have you ever thought maybe he likes his new life?"

"If he did, he wouldn't have agreed to come meet us," Bentley said knowingly. "If he did, he wouldn't have agreed to help us in the first place. Sly wants to come back; he just needs help realizing it."

"Fine," Merah said, crossing her arms. "So, you're trying to get Sly back into the gang. At least let me get that diamond so I know it's safe from that thief."

"Why are you so worked up about the diamond?" Penelope asked suspiciously, putting a hand on her hip. Merah turned to look at her, her silver-blue eyes full of determination.

"Let's just say," Merah said softly. "I've run into this thief before."

J.R. was pacing around the Chief's office restlessly, waiting for him to show up. After being assigned to get everything organized to help Westwood with the BD case and being assigned to the theft case at the Louvre, he was about ready to have a heart attack. This was too much meat on his plate, and believe me, J.R. could usually hand a lot of meat.

Chief Jacey opened the door of his office, and froze in place when he saw his nephew pacing about nervously. The Chief sighed, closed the door behind him, slowly walking over to his desk, and taking his sweet time to get comfortable in his chair. J.R. tapped his foot, trying to be patient.

"Alright, Jamison," Chief Jacey said, lighting his cigar. "What do you want?"

"I want help!" J.R. yelled automatically. Then he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Listen, Uncle… you have me on two big cases. Inspector Westwood and his partner are coming next Monday, and I still haven't even made a dent in the preparations for the BD case. Now you've got me on this theft case? I can't handle it all!"

"You're getting a first-hand taste of what it's like to be Chief, J.R.," Chief said, puffing his cigar. "It's all about stress."

"I can't deal with stress," J.R. snapped. "I have a reputation to uphold in the office, for one, and… I… just… can't deal with stress!"

"Well, then, I guess you'll never make a good Chief," Jacey replied, lazily lounging back in his chair. "There's more to it than bossing people around."

'Yeah, like eating doughnuts all day…' J.R. thought bitterly. Then he said aloud, "Look, Uncle Jacey, I just… want help. Get an officer to agree to be my partner, or something; anything. I just need… help with all of this, someone who I can trust to prepare information for Westwood while I go out and deal with the Louvre case."

Jacey sighed then. "You're falling weak, J.R."

"No, Uncle, I'm just admitting when I need assistance," J.R. countered. Jacey surveyed his nephew for a long time, and then a smile broke out under his bushy moustache. He chuckled softly.

"Alright," He said, and he picked up his phone. He dialed a number, and waited for the person he was calling to pick up. A shy, quiet, feminine voice on the other end answered.

"Secretary," The voice said.

"Mimi!" Jacey boomed happily, obviously stating the secretary's name.

"Oh!" Mimi's voice exclaimed, alarmed. "Chief Ralston!"

"Listen, I was wondering if you could look for an officer who isn't partnered and who isn't on a case at the moment. Inspector Ralston needs some… assistance with his cases, and he figured the best way to go about it is to get a partner."

"Yes, Chief," Mimi said hurriedly, and Jacey could hear her typing furiously on her computer. "Um… well, Chief, we have… Alvaro."

"Just name them all off, I'll stop you when I hear a good name," Jacey said, taking a puff on his cigar again.

"Yes, sir," The secretary answered. "Bremmings, Cable, Caine, Didier, Dijiri, Dawson, Edwards, Faye, Grahm, Howsen, Jacobs, Martin, Stevensons, Tavita, Taye, Williams,--"

"Wait, who did you just name off?" Jacey asked, interrupting Mimi.

"Um… Williams, sir?" Mimi asked timidly.

"No, no, before that," The Chief said. "The T's."

"Tavita and Taye?"

"Tavita!" Jacey yelled in triumph, jumping to his feet and pointing a finger at his nephew. Mimi squeaked in surprise at his yell. "There you go, J.R.! A good cop, a loyal working partner, organized, and she's quite a looker, too."

"As long as she's hardworking, that's all that matters," J.R. said, crossing his arms.

"Mimi, send Constable Tavita to my office at once," Jacey ordered into the phone. "And get someone to bring me a coffee and a doughnut."

"Right away, sir!" Mimi exclaimed, and she hung up the phone. Jacey hung up the phone, too, grinning at J.R. as he did so.

"This girl is good," He said, settling back down into his chair. Then, as if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "Come in!"

The door opened, and a pretty Persian cat with curly blonde hair walked her way into the room. She was wearing a pair of rather tight blue-jeans and a white, collared shirt. Her hair was left down, so the perfect curls cascaded around her shoulders. J.R. just stared at her, assuming she was Constable Tavita. He hadn't noticed her before, and now he felt kind of bad. She was beautiful.

"You wanted to see me, Chief?" Tavita asked. J.R.'s ears perked up at the sound of her voice. Her sexy Spanish accent just made her even more attractive to him.

"Yes, yes," Chief Jacey said, waving his hand in J.R. direction. "Modesta, this is my nephew, Jamison. He needs a partner to help him with information for a case Inspector Westwood is coming to do. I was wondering if you would consider helping him out."

Modesta glanced in J.R.'s direction, and she smiled at him, feeling surprisingly calm. He was staring at her with admiration, and she supposed that's what had given her the sudden confidence. She felt good, knowing J.R. was taking a notice of her now. Then she looked at the Chief.

"It would be a pleasure, Chief," She said.

"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful," Jacey said, tapping his cigar on the side of his overly-filled ashtray. "J.R., if you could prep Constable Tavita about the BD case?"

"Of course," J.R. said, and he leaded Modesta to the door, trying to act as charming as possible. Once J.R. had closed the door behind him from his uncle's office, he drew an arm around Modesta's waist.

Sly and Carmelita, who had just left their own office, stopped in their tracks when they saw J.R. with his arm around Modesta, giving her his full and undivided attention. Sly pointed at them.

"Was that...?" He asked slowly, really confused.

"Yeah," Carmelita replied, her voice the same level as Sly's. "That was Modesta. With J.R."

Sly sighed. "Well… that's… unexpected."

Just then, Robin came out of his office wearing his brown trench-coat, and he stopped in surprise, too, when he saw J.R. showing Modesta into his office. He gawked at them for a minute, and then shook his head slowly.

"She's got it bad, doesn't she?" He asked Sly, who still couldn't comprehend how two very unlikely people paired up. Sly nodded slowly.

"Yep." He said flatly. "She does."

What a weird week this was turning out to be…

A/N: is shaking from excitement Okay! Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay! This story is… really taking shape now! OMG! I can't wait to freak you all out! XD

R&R, please!